Taxus baccata (Common Yew, European Yew) Home » Taxus baccata (Common Yew, European Yew) Taxus baccata Thomas, P. Justification: The Common Yew (Taxus baccata) has a very extensive range throughout Europe and beyond. Exploitation and attempts at eradication are no longer current. Cultivated rather than wild populations are exploited for chemical compounds to produce Taxol® unlike the situation with other yew species. Expansion is observed in many woodlands in recent decades. Previously published Red List assessments: 1998 – Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc) Geographic Range [top] Range Description: Taxus baccata occurs in all European countries as well as those in the Caucasus, and from Turkey eastwards to northern Iran. In North Africa it occurs in Morocco and Algeria. Consequently its extent of occurrence is well in excess of the Red List thresholds for any threatened category.

Countries occurrence: Native: Albania; Algeria; Andorra; Armenia (Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh); Austria; Azerbaijan (Nakhichevan); Belgium; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France (Corsica); Georgia (Abkhaziya, Adzhariya); Germany; Gibraltar; Greece (Kriti); Guernsey; Hungary; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Isle of Man; Italy (Sardegna, Sicilia); Jersey; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Malta; Moldova; Monaco; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal (Azores); Romania; Russian Federation (Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetiya, Kabardino-Balkariya, Kaliningrad, Karachaevo-Cherkessiya, Krasnodar, Severo-Osetiya, Stavropol); Serbia (Serbia); Spain (Baleares); Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey (Turkey-in-Europe); Ukraine (Krym); United Kingdom Additional data: Population [top] Population: The global population is increasing due to changed woodland management, which has become less intensified in many parts of Europe.

In Scandinavia, it may be expected to expand inland from coastal areas if the warming climate trend continues. Current Population Trend: Habitat and Ecology [top] Habitat and Ecology: Taxus baccata is capable of growing under (not entirely closed) canopy of beech (Fagus spp.) as well as other deciduous broad-leaved trees, but it will only develop to large trees in more open situations. In Switzerland, the richest area of Central Europe for yew, it forms a yew-beech wood on cool, steep marl slopes in the Jura and the foothills of the Alps up to 1,400 m a.s.l. (Ellenberg 1988). Under the evergreen Common Yew, nothing else will grow. In England, T. baccata is best developed on chalk downs - again on steep slopes - and can form extensive stands outside the beech woods invading down grassland. In much of Europe where the climate is less oceanic it survives better in mixed forests, coniferous as well as mixed broad-leaved-conifer forests, again mostly on limestone substrates, and often occupying rocky cliffs and slopes.

On acid soils yews perform less well under canopy and usually do not develop beyond a sapling stage in woods. Its northern limits in Scandinavia are determined by its sensitivity to severe frost. Its toxicity (all parts except the red arils around the seeds) prevent browsing by cattle and sheep, but not by rabbits and deer, as these animals have developed a level of immunity to the dangerous alkaloids. Apart from seed germination (dispersed by birds), T. baccata readily regenerates from stumps and roots (suckers); ancient hollow trees may rejuvenate constantly in this way. When planted, e.g. in church yards and cemeteries, soil pH seems unimportant; some of the largest and presumably oldest specimen trees in NW Europe, in particular Brittany (France) and the British Isles, are known from such locations and were planted probably since Celtic times Systems: Use and Trade [top] Use and Trade: In the Middle Ages the wood of Common Yew was very much in demand for long-bows and cross-bows and was exported from Switzerland to England.

Yews were also planted near sacred wells, early Christian churches, monasteries, and castles for symbolic/religious reasons as well as practical (military) ones. It still is one of the obligatory cemetery trees in NW and Central Europe. The hard, slow growing wood is used for gates, furniture, parquet floors, panelling, and is excellent for carving and wood turning as its contorted growth and 'burls' form intricate, vari-coloured patterns. For the same reasons yew does not provide timber suitable for construction. The toxicity to cattle and horses has led to extermination of Taxus baccata from many woodlands in past centuries, when almost all woodland served for grazing animals. Although of lower concentration than in some other species, its alkaloid taxanes, contained mostly in the leaves, yield a semi-synthesized anti-cancer drug similar to Taxol® and yew hedge clippings can still be sold to pharmaceutical companies. As an ornamental shrub or tree it reappeared in the formal gardens of the Baroque period, as it lends itself to clipped hedges and topiary of all shapes.

This horticultural interest has in turn led to the development of numerous cultivars, some of which have bright yellow arils around the seeds. Threats [top] Major Threat(s): Although in past centuries Yew has been 'persecuted' in much of Europe and it had become rare in many areas, with the changes in woodland management and use since the nineteenth century the species has made a remarkable come-back and is not in danger of extinction in the wild. Conservation Actions [top] Conservation Actions: Common Yew is present in numerous protected areas throughout its range. In Europe, several yew dominated communities are covered under the EU Habitats Directive. Additionally there are many societies in various countries devoted to yew conservation, especially older trees. Citation: Farjon, A. 2013. Taxus baccata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T42546A2986660. . Downloaded on 13 January 2017.

Disclaimer: Taxus baccata (common yew) | Plants & Fungi At Kew Discover plants and fungi Taxus baccata (common yew) A densely branching evergreen that can live for centuries, the common yew is often found in British churchyards. Taxus baccata on a ruined wall at Waverley Abbey, Surrey. Species information Least Concern (LC) according to IUCN Red List criteria. Habitat: Oak and beech woodland, often on chalk or limestone substrates. Key Uses: Ornamental, timber, wood for bow-making, medicinal. Known hazards: The seeds, leaves and bark are highly poisonous and can cause fatal poisoning of humans and livestock. Taxonomy Genus: Taxus About this species Taxus baccata, although native to Britain and sometimes referred to as the English yew, is also found across much of Europe, western Asia and North Africa. The generic name Taxus is reflected in the name of the poisonous taxanes found in the tree. Some botanists did not consider yew to be a true conifer, since it does not bear its seeds in a cone.

However, proper consideration of its evolutionary relationships now places the yew family (Taxaceae) firmly within the conifers. Medicinal Uses Yew trees contain the highly poisonous taxane alkaloids that have been developed as anti-cancer drugs. Eating just a few leaves can make a small child severely ill and fatalities have occurred. All parts of the tree are poisonous, with the exception of the bright red arils. The arils are harmless, fleshy, cup-like structures, partially enveloping the seeds, which are eaten by birds (which disperse the seeds); however, the black seeds inside them should not be eaten as they contain poisonous alkaloids. Discover more Geography and distribution The common yew is found across much of Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It grows throughout the British Isles (although it is less abundant in Ireland, and absent from the far north of Scotland), especially on calcareous soils. Ancient yew woods, formed of almost pure stands of yew, are a typical feature of chalk soils in southern England (for example along the North Downs and in the Chiltern Hills). Taxus baccata ripe seeds enclosed by a bright red aril.

Description Taxus baccata is a densely branching, evergreen tree with a massive trunk, reaching up to 20 m tall. The leaves are dark green, linear and up to 3 cm long, with a pointed tip, and appear to spread in two rows on either side of the shoot. Unlike many other conifers, the common yew does not actually bear its seeds in a cone. Instead, each seed grows alone at the tip of a dwarf shoot, enclosed in a fleshy, usually red, aril which is open at the tip and up to 1 cm in length. How old is a yew tree? Taxus baccata in Kentchurch Court deer park, Herefordshire While it is generally agreed that the yew lives for a long time, the actual age of individual trees is often impossible to judge. The traditional method of counting the rings in the trunk of a tree is often not an option, because many older specimens develop hollow trunks. This is caused by a fungus that turns the inside of the tree into a pulpy, soil-like mass of rotten wood (which seems to have no ill-effect on the health of the tree as a whole).

However, as yew trunks have been known to reach huge girths of as much as 4 m (13 ft), even the most conservative estimates of around 2,000 years of age, place them as the longest-living trees in Europe. Taxus baccata foliage and pollen cones In 2000, Kew scientists in the Jodrell Laboratory at Kew used their skills in plant anatomy and chemistry to solve the death of two horses. Tim Lawrence was able to detect fragments of yew leaves in the stomach contents of the horses while Dr Geoffrey Kite developed a method to detect the toxic yew-derived taxane alkaloids in the stomach contents using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (an analytical chemistry technique using physical separation and mass analysis). Dr Kite has since used his liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method to investigate other horse deaths, suspected as being caused by yew. Millennium Seed Bank: Seed storage Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership aims to save plant life world wide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.

Description of seeds: Average 1,000 seed weight = 60.3 g. Seeds are dispersed by birds. Number of seed collections stored in the Millennium Seed Bank: One. Seed storage behaviour: Orthodox (the seeds of this plant survive drying without significant reduction in their viability, and are therefore amenable to long-term frozen storage such as at the MSB) Germination testing: 84% germination achieved with pre-sowing treatments (imbibed on 1% agar for 20 weeks at 5°C, then imbibed on 1% agar for 20 weeks at 20°C, then 1% agar at 5°C for 21 weeks) and then on a germination medium of 1% agar, at a temperature of 20°C, on a cycle of 8 hours light/16 hours darkness. This species at Kew The parterre in front of Kew Palace is surrounded on all sides by a hedge of common yew. Yew trees can also be seen in the woodland of the Conservation Area close to Queen Charlotte’s Cottage. There are some spectacular examples of yew trees growing with their roots climbing down over sandstone rocks at Wakehurst.

Kew at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011 In 2011, Kew partnered with The Times to produce a show garden to showcase the significance of plants to science and society. The garden, designed by Chelsea gold medallist Marcus Barnett, featured species chosen to demonstrate both beauty and utility, including medicinal, commercial, and industrial uses to underline the fact that plants are invaluable to our everyday lives – without them, none of us could live on this planet; they produce our food, clothing and the air that we breathe. Taxus baccata was one of the species that featured in the garden, which was awarded a Silver Medal. References and credits Bevan-Jones, R. (2007). The ancient yew, a history of Taxus baccata. Windgather Press, Bollington, Cheshire. Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Taxus baccata. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. < . Downloaded on 02 November 2010. Cooper, M.R. & Johnson, A.W. (1998).

Poisonous Plants and Fungi in Britain: Animal and Human Poisoning. The Stationery Office, London. Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World’s Conifers. E.J. Brill, Leiden & Boston. Huxley, A., Griffiths, M. & Levy, M. (eds) (1992). The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. Vol. 4 (R to Z): 437-438. Macmillan Press, London. Kite G.C., Lawrence T.J. & Dauncey E.A. (2000) Detecting Taxus poisoning in horses using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Vet. Hum. Toxicol. 42(3):151-154. Preston, C.D., Pearman, D.A. & Dines, T.A. (eds) (2002). New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora: An atlas of the Vascular Plants of Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Wageneder, F. (2007).

Yew, a history. Sutton Publishing Ltd., Stroud. Kew Science Editor: Aljos Farjon Kew contributors: Sustainable Uses Group Copyediting: Emma Tredwell While every effort has been taken to ensure that the information contained in these pages is reliable and complete, the notes on hazards, edibility and suchlike included here are recorded information and do not constitute recommendations. No responsibility will be taken for readers’ own actions. Taxus baccata - Plant Finder Plant Finder Native Range: Europe, Atlas Mountains, Asia Minor, Caucauses Zone: 6 to 7 Height: 30.00 to 60.00 feet Spread: 15.00 to 25.00 feet Bloom Time: Non-flowering Sun: Full sun to part shade Water: Medium Garden locations Culture Best grown in evenly moist, fertile, sandy loams with excellent drainage in full sun to part shade. Tolerant of full shade, a wide variety of soils (except poorly-drained ones) and considerable pruning. Plants are easy to prune and respond well to pruning. Intolerant of temperature extremes (e.g., prolonged hot summer temperatures or cold winter winds). Not reliably winter hardy throughout the St.

Louis area where plants should be located in sheltered locations with protection from winter winds. Noteworthy Characteristics Taxus baccata, commonly called English yew or common yew, is a long-lived, evergreen, conical tree that is native to Europe, southwestern Asia and northern Africa. It typically grows to 30-60' tall. Old trees usually develop thick trunks with scaly reddish-brown bark. Lustrous, flat-needled, two-ranked, dark green foliage (needles to 1 1/2" long) is attractive year round. Young shoots emerge light green. Although classified as a conifer, female yews (plants are dioecious) do not produce cones, but instead produce red, ornamentally-attractive, berry-like fruits, each having a single seed almost completely surrounded by a fleshy red aril. Birds will feed on the berry-like fruits and help spread plants to other locations. ?Genus name comes from the old Latin name for yews. Specific epithet means fruit-bearing in reference to the showy red arils. Problems No serious insect or disease problems.

Susceptible to winter burn from exposure to extreme cold and/or dry winter winds, particularly in exposed sites. Twig blights and needle blights are occasional problems. Root rot may occur in poorly-drained soils. Insect pests include mealybugs, scale and vine weevils. Garden Uses One of the best evergreen conifers for shady areas. Species plants are rarely sold in commerce. Cultivars of T. baccata and of T. x media (T. baccata x T. cuspidata) are commonly sold in commerce. Specimen/accent. Hedge. Screen. Foundation. Topiary. Background. Taxus baccata, yew - THE POISON GARDEN website THE POISON GARDEN website Taxus baccata, yew Summary Rich in myths, legends and folklore. The berries are a good example of why advising a child to always chew its food thoroughly is not universally sound. Blog Entries Meaning of the Name Taxus Possibly from the Greek ‘taxon’, ‘bow’ as a result of the use of its wood to make bows. Persian has ‘tachš’ for ‘bow’.

A mummy from the Chalcolithic age, around 4000BC, was found with an unfinished bow made of yew so its use for this purpose goes back much further than the English long bowmen usually associated with it. yew, Irish yew, English yew How Poisonous, How Harmful? Taxus baccata, yew All parts, except the flesh of the berries, contain taxin(e) a complex of alkaloids which is rapidly absorbed. Also present are ephedrine, a cyanogenic glycoside (taxiphyllin) and a volatile oil. Where poisoning does occur, in animals or humans, there may be no symptoms and death may follow within a few hours of ingestion. If symptoms do occur, they include trembling, staggering, coldness, weak pulse and collapse. Yew is one of the plants where the poison is not destroyed when the plant dies. Thus, branches removed from a yew by high winds or pruning will retain their poison. Though the berries are harmless, the seed within is highly toxic. Unbroken it will pass through the body without being digested but if the seed is chewed poisoning can occur with as few as three berries.

Taxus baccata, yew Incidents Most incidents with yew relate to animals though it was eaten, in the 1980s, by four prisoners as a means of suicide. Three of the four succeeded. The interactive CD-ROM produced by St Thomas' and Kew Gardens cites a number of case reports all involving ingestion of leaves or bark. In one case it is noted that a nineteen month old child accidentally ingested some plant material. Intact seeds were found in his stools confirming that these are not digested. The child recovered. Farmers have reported cases of poisoning in cattle when dead yew clippings have been dumped on grazing land. The assumption is that someone clipped a yew hedge in the garden, left the clippings to wither thinking that would render them safe before 'recycling' them by dumping them on farmland. A visitor to the Alnwick Garden Poison Garden talked about his elderly neighbour who, being no longer able to manage it himself, had a group of young people in to tidy up his garden. They trimmed his yews and threw the clippings over the fence into the field at the bottom of the garden where three heifers died after eating the cuttings.

Folklore and Facts Some years ago, it was found that the taxol found in yew could be used to produce chemotherapy treatments for breast and other cancers. The drug produced in this way is called paclitaxel. (Until someone was kind enough to correct me, I was one of the many people who thought tamoxifen was produced from yew. It is not. Tamoxifen is a synthetic drug.) For some time, large gardens made a point of keeping their yew prunings and passing these to companies to extract the taxol and produce these drugs. This was an expensive process and produced only limited amounts of the drug. Since then, however, it has been discovered that taxol is produced from a fungus that lives in the yew. Other fungi have also been found that are able to be used to produce paclitaxel. With some, artificially brewing is possible and, once that process is scaled up, it should reduce the cost and increase the availability of breast cancer treatments. Though toxic to most animals, deer do graze on yew and gardeners are advised to avoid growing yew if there is a possibility of deer getting into the garden because it is a favourite food.

That said, the list of plants which deer will browse is a very long one and there are reports of poisoning incidents so it may be large amounts are toxic to deer. The idea that yew was grown in churchyards for making longbows is a myth. Bows were made, primarily, from the trunk of the tree so the tree was destroyed. In addition, yew grown in Britain is too brittle so the famous English longbow was made from wood imported from Europe. The roots of the yew are very fine and will grow through the eyes of the dead to prevent them seeing their way back to the world of the living. Sources - Galen Galen was a Greek who worked as a doctor in Rome. He lived from about 130AD to about 215AD. He spent much time dissecting animals to try and understand the workings of the body and was the first to conclude that the kidneys are where urine is formed rather than the bladder. He also discovered the heart valves and found that the arteries carry blood around the body and not air as was thought. Many of his other discoveries were, however, erroneous and he fell out of favour during the Renaissance.

That we know so much of Galen’s writings is due to their translation into Arabic, during the 9th century, by Hunayn ibn Ishaq. Many of the English herbals refer to Galen to support their descriptions of the efficacy of plant remedies. Yew is very long-lived and, in many cases, the yew tree in the churchyard predates the church so, the church was built round a yew tree because the pagan belief about the roots was so deep-seated. Its longevity leads to its featuring in tales of reincarnation. If two yews are intertwined it is believed that they grew after yew stakes were driven into the chests of lovers whose relationship appalled their community. Many place names have their origins in particular trees. York is a corruption of an Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘the place where yew grows’. John Gerard quotes Galen and others as saying that the yew is very venomous taken internally and that sleeping under a Yew can cause sickness and oftentimes death.

He then dismisses these stories by saying that ‘when I was young and went to school, divers of my school fellows and likewise myself did eat our fills of the berries of this tree and hath not only slept under the shadow thereof, but among the branches also, without hurt at all, and that not one time, but many times’. Thomas Johnson resolves the difference of opinion between the foreign ancient sources and Gerard by asserting that the yew in England is not poisonous but, in other countries, it is highly venomous. Site Update All the pages in the A to Z section are regularly updated. Taxus Baccata (Common Yew / English Yew) Taxus Baccata (Common Yew / English Yew) Taxus baccata is a medium sized, evergreen conifer, native to Britain, much of Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. It is tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions including shade and chalk but not waterlogged or poor draining soil. It is widely used in landscaping as its relatively slow growth and tolerance of pruning make it an ideal plant for hedging and topiary. Bright red, berry like fruits ripen in the autumn and are attractive to birds during the winter.

Most parts of the plant are toxic, particularly if foliage is eaten by animals. Fatal poisoning is uncommon in humans though unless excess volumes of foliage are consumed! Taxus baccata is the longest living plant in Europe with estimated ages between 2000 and 4000 years. However, no one can determine the exact ages as the trunk hollows with age, making a ring count impossible. This does not make the plant unstable though as once it reaches a certain size, new shoots appear at the base and grow, fusing into the main truck and acting like buttresses. Common Name: Common, English or European Yew Family: Taxaceae Demands: Tolerant of most conditions and soil types as long as well drained Foliage: Needles are lanceolate, flat and dark green Bark: Reddish-brown, flaking in small pieces Fruit: Seeds are surrounded by a red, berry-like fruit. Taxus baccata info sheet FACT: Most commonly, people associate Yews with churchyards. Ancient Britons planted them near temples and when Christianity came to Britain, the tradition continued. Some churches were built by existing plants.

Around 500 churchyards in England have a yew tree which is older than the church itself, they are meant to be a symbol of everlasting life and resurrection. Yew has a long history in England as the wood of choice for bow making. The heartwood is on the inside of the bow as it resists compression. The sapwood is on the outside as it resists stretching. Once all the British supplies had been exhausted, the wood was imported from Europe. Once the European supplies were exhausted, longbows were replace with firearms! Taxus baccata clipped cones Common Yew, Taxus baccata - Trees and shrubs - NatureGate Name also: English Yew, European Yew Family: Yew Family – Taxaceae Growing form and height: Shrub or small tree. 1–5 m (3–16 ft.). Flower: Male and female flowers on separate individuals. Axillary male inflorescences globose, yellow. Female flowers erect, green, borne singly in the leaf axils. Leaves: Evergreen, linear, flat, short-stalked, 1–3 cm (0.4–1.2 in.) long needles with a pointed tip.

Dark green above, yellowish-green beneath. Spreading in two ranks either side of the shoot. Cone: Berry-like structure consisting of a single seed enclosed in a fleshy aril ripening from green to red. The aril is open at the top, the green seed being visible in the opening. Habitat: Moist coniferous and mixed forests. Flowering time: June. Endangerment: Near threatened, protected on the Åland Islands. Common yew is a peculiar conifer which lacks cone-like female inflorescences. Structurally it actually resembles maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba). Indeed, the genus Taxus is to be understood as an independent lineage, parallel to but separate from the actual conifers (Pinopsida or Coniferae). Common yew is a dioecious gymnospermous shrub or small tree which prefers oceanic climate. The plant is very poisonous, apart from the aril enclosing the seed. Common yew is a typical member of the Central European broadleaf forest vegetation, and it is thought to have been introduced to the Åland Islands by the Vikings.

Its hard and tough timber offered the best material for bows, and strings could be made from the fibrous bark. Also various other utensils, e.g. dishes, were – and still are – made from the timber. A chemical compound isolated from the bark of common yew has been noted to have cancer-healing properties. In Finland, the yews used in gardens and parks are usually of the hardier Japanese yew (T. cuspidata) or Taxus x media which is a hybrid between common and Japanese yew. Taxus baccata (common yew) description Crown of the Great Yew at Beltingham , Northumberland, UK [C.J. Earle, 2010.06.19]. Stem of the Great Yew at Beltingham. An 1884 newspaper account noted the presence of the iron band to strengthen the tree [C.J. Earle, 2010.06.19]. Epicormic sprouts on the trunk of one of the Borrowdale Yews. Its prolific ability to sprout in this way may be one reason yews are often used as symbols of eternal life [C.J.

Earle, 2010.06.19]. Note the fused branch. The ability of yew to fuse with itself, to sprout from virtually any living bark surface, and to send roots into its own decaying wood, allows a tree to persist as a living individual for a much longer time than can be recorded by the tree's own rings. Thus it is extremely difficult to derive an accurate age estimate for an old yew [C.J. Earle, 2010.06.20]. A golden Irish yew at Beltingham; this is an fine example of a long-established cultivar [C.J. Earle, 2010.06.15]. This is one of those species that has attracted a lot of attention. Some of the available books include: European, English, or common yew ( Hartzell 1991 ). Taxonomic notes The hybrid T. baccata × T. cuspidata is T. × media ( Hils 1993 ). All yew species are quite similar. Pilger (1916) described them all as subspecies of T.

baccata, reserving subspecies eubaccata for the populations treated here. Description Primarily dioecious evergreen trees 10-20(-40) m tall and up to 4 m dbh. Crown normally pyramidal, becoming irregular with age; but many cultivated forms depart dramatically from this. Bark thin, scaly, brown. Leaves flat, arranged spirally but appearing 2-ranked, 10-40 × 2-3 mm, dark green. Pollen cones globose, 3-6 mm diameter, shedding pollen in early spring. Seed cone consists of a single seed surrounded by a soft, bright red aril 8-15 mm long. Arils mature gradually 6-9 months after pollination, and seeds are dispersed by birds (L'Herbier Virtuel 2008). Distribution and Ecology Britain to N Iran ( Silba 1986 ); widely cultivated in North America ( Hils 1993 ), and naturalized in USA: Washington ( PLANTS database 2009.03.31 ).

Hardy to Zone 6 (cold hardiness limit between -23.2°C and -17.8°C) ( Bannister and Neuner 2001 ). In Croatia, Slovenia, and Poland, it is protected by law. Big tree The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, Scotland, has a nominal girth of 15.8 m. The trunk is riven in two halves and much of the heartwood is gone, so this figure implies a substantially greater basal area than the tree in fact possesses. It appears (based in a photograph in [ Hartzell 1991 ]) to be about 13 m tall with a crown spread of about 20 m ( Hartzell 1991 ). Data on two other U.K. trees are: 29 m tall and 89 cm dbh for a tree at Belvoir Castle, Leics.; and 13 m tall, 334 cm dbh for a tree at Ulcombe Church, Kent (Mitchell et al. 1990).

Some yews in a special reserve in Hosta, on the Russian coast of the Black Sea (formerly a sacred grove of the Shapsug people), are more than 40 m high (Vladimir Dinets e-mail 1998.01.10). Oldest The yew is a fine example of a tree to which great age is often attributed without much in the way of hard evidence. The oldest known yews have invariably lost most of their heartwood to decay and in any event tend to be isolated individuals, usually growing in places that have been regarded as sacred since before the Christian era. Consequently, tree ring-based age estimation is usually impractical or impossible. A few researchers have tried to estimate ages by extrapolation from observed growth rates, a very dubious proposition in view of the fact that when tree ring data are available they usually show extrapolated age estimates to be gross exaggerations. Nonetheless, it seems very likely that many of the largest yews encountered around the Christian shrines of the British Isles were in fact planted during the pre-Christian era by Celtic groups who saw the yew as sacred. It is therefore plausible that yews aged 2000 years or more occur in the British Isles.

An age of 4000 years has been attributed, without much basis, to the Tisbury Yew in Wiltshire and the Crowhurst Yew in Surrey, both in England ( Hartzell 1991 ). Dendrochronology Ethnobotany The oldest known wooden implement is a spear made of yew wood, about 50,000 years old, from Clacton-on-Sea, England. Archeological excavations have found found yew bows and knives in Swiss lake dwellings from 10,000 years ago. Historically, yew bows were the weapon of choice for both hunting and warfare throughout most of Europe until the invention of firearms. Yew was also employed in a less forthright manner, as a poison, used for assassination, suicide, as an arrow poison, and to poison fish and mammals. Due to its hardness, it was used for shuttles, cogs, axle-trees, and pulley-pins. The colorful wood (red heartwood, white sapwood) was used to veneer furniture, to make lute bodies, bowls, tankards, combs, tool handles, pegs, and various art objects.

As noted below, it was used in many ways by various religions, and certain yew objects such as drinking-cups are still regarded as having a certain spiritual potency. It was used medicinally to treat viper bites, hydrophobia (rabies) and heart ailments, and as an abortifascient. Currently, its principal use is as an ornamental plant. Many cultivars exist, and it is a preferred subject for topiary. It is also known to contain the anti-cancer drug taxol, but has not been widely exploited in this connection ( Hartzell 1991 ). The foliage and seeds contain several alkaloids, in particular taxine, very poisonous, which alters to hydrotaxine by hydrolysis; also one glucoside, taxicatine. The wood, bark, foliage and seeds are toxic. The foliage is the principal source of taxine. Old and desiccated foliage is more poisonous than young and fresh foliage. Poisoning is frequent in animals. Horses, asses and mules are extremely sensitive and can be killed in less than one hour. Rabbits, guinea-pigs and cats are insensitive to taxine.

In humans, the yew generates digestive, nervous, respiratory and cardiovascular disorders which can result in death. Symptoms include excitation, hyperventilation, and tachycardia, followed by deceleration of the heart, hypotension, nausea, stomach pains, cramps, giddinesses, colic, violent diarrhoea, dizzy spells, convulsions, coma and death (L'Herbier Virtuel 1999-2008). The red aril surrounding the seed can be eaten just as it is like delicacy with the proviso of not chewing the seed. It is sweetened and very mucilaginous. The arilles, removed from their seeds, have diuretic and laxative effects (L'Herbier Virtuel 1999-2008). Observations As seen in the photos at left, there are some remarkable yews in the British isles. An excellent resource for finding them is this interactive map at The Woodland Trust , which catalogues many remarkable British trees (mostly angiosperms). You can also search by species, and there are photographs of most of the trees.

Reservations containing significant populations of wild yew have been established in Wierzchlas Forest on Mukrz Lake, Polska (Poland); near Great Fatra and in the Bakony Forest of Magyarország (Hungary); and near Kolomya in Ukraine ( Hartzell 1991 ). A good location in southern France is the Massif de la Sainte-Baume, located E of Aubagne which is 20 km from Marseille. Paths go up the Massif from the Monasterio. The old protected forest is on the N side of the massif. All along the paths there are big Taxus baccata mixed with Ilex aquifolium beneath a canopy of huge Fagus sylvatica. The paths lead to a summit cave with a sanctuary inside where there are an altar and relics of Maria-Magdalena who is said to have lived and died there (Réjean Drouin email 2013.12.16). Remarks T. baccata has played a major role in several religious traditions.

This may have occurred because the tree is poisonous, valued for a variety of medicinal purposes, and symbolic of eternal life due to its evergreenness, exceptional longevity, and the wood's resistance to decay. Thus the tree unites of death (by poison) with eternal life. The Greeks wove funeral wreaths from it in honor of Hecate, whose dominion was death. The Celts used its wood for for votive and funerary artifacts, planted it in their holiest shrines (or perhaps chose its groves to site those shrines), and attributed to it a host of magical properties memorialized in their folklore. Following conversion of the Celts to Christianity, many of the Celtic shrines were appropriated as sites of churches and other Christian shrines, and ancient yews resident at these locations were preserved - perhaps to further legitimize the new religion. Whatever the reason, this cultural preservation of ancient yews accounts for the existence of the oldest and largest known individuals ( Hartzell 1991 ). Some palynological evidence suggests that the yew was substantially more abundant in Europe during the late Pleistocene (10,000 years ago) ( Hartzell 1991 ).

Robin Hood used a bow of yew to win the Maid Marion, to whom he was betrothed under the branches of a yew. At his death, he was buried beneath a yew. This and much more are available in Hartzell's remarkable book "The Yew Tree" ( Hartzell 1991 ). Citations L'Herbier Virtuel, accessed 1998.12.23, now defunct . A revised version of the page can be found at , accessed 2008.09.16. Mitchell, A.F., V.E. Hallett, and J.E.J. White. 1990. Champion trees in the British Isles. Forestry Commission Field Book 10.

See also Yew (Taxus baccata) - Woodland Trust Woodland Trust Search the Woodland Trust website Search The bark of the yew is reddish-brown with purple tones, and peels (Photo: P Sterry/WTML) Each seed is enclosed in a red, fleshy, berry-like structure known as an aril (Photo: P Sterry/WTML) Flowers are visible and in March and April (Photo: P Sterry/WTML) Needles are straight and small with a pointed tip, dark green above and green-grey below (Photo: P Sterry/WTML) Yew is an evergreen conifer native to the UK, Europe and North Africa. Common name: yew Family: Taxaceae UK provenance: native Interesting fact: Taxus baccata can reach 400 to 600 years of age. Ten yew trees in Britain are believed to predate the 10th century. What does yew look like? Overview: mature trees can grow to 20m. The bark is reddish-brown with purple tones, and peeling. The yew is probably the most long-lived tree in northern Europe.

Leaves: straight, small needles with a pointed tip, and coloured dark green above and green-grey below. They grow in two rows on either side of each twig. Flowers: yew is dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers grow on separate trees. These are visible in March and April. Male flowers are insignificant white-yellow globe-like structures. Female flowers are bud-like and scaly, and green when young but becoming brown and acorn-like with age. Fruits: unlike many other conifers, the common yew does not actually bear its seeds in a cone. Instead, each seed is enclosed in a red, fleshy, berry-like structure known as an aril which is open at the tip. The foliage and seed coat of yew contains a cocktail of highly toxic alkaloids. The aril (fleshy red part) is not toxic and is a special favourite of blackbirds which act as efficient seed dispersers. Some birds, such as greenfinches, even manage to remove the toxic seed coat to get at the nutritious embryo. Look out for: the needle-like leaves grow in two rows along a twig. Underneath, the needles each have a raised central vein.

Could be confused with: Irish yew (Taxus baccata 'fastigiata') or other planted yew species. Identified in winter by: it is an evergreen so its features are present year round. Where to find yew It is commonly found growing in southern England and often forms the understory in beech woodland. It is often used as a hedging plant and has long been planted in churchyards. Value to wildlife Yew hedges in particular are incredibly dense, offering protection and nesting opportunities for many birds. The UK’s smallest birds - the goldcrest and firecrest - nest in broadleaf woodland with a yew understorey. The fruit is eaten by birds such as the blackbird, mistle thrush, song thrush and fieldfare, and small mammals such as squirrels and dormice. The leaves are eaten by caterpillars of the satin beauty moth. Mythology and symbolism Yew trees have long been associated with churchyards and there are at least 500 churchyards in England which contain yew trees older than the building itself.

It is not clear why, but it has been suggested that yew trees were planted on the graves of plague victims to protect and purify the dead, but also that graveyards were inaccessible to cows, which would die if they ate the leaves. Yew trees were used as symbols of immortality, but also seen as omens of doom. For many centuries it was the custom for yew branches to be carried on Palm Sunday and at funerals. In Ireland it was said that the yew was ‘the coffin of the vine’, as wine barrels were made of yew staves. How we use yew Yew timber is rich orange-brown in colour, closely grained and incredibly strong and durable (hence why old trees can remain standing with hollow trunks). Traditionally the wood was used in turnery and to make long bows and tool handles. One of the world's oldest surviving wooden artifacts is a yew spear head, found in 1911 at Clacton-on-sea, in Essex, UK. It is estimated to be about 450,000 years old. Yew is a popular hedging and topiary plant.

Anti-cancer compounds are harvested from the foliage of Taxus baccata and used in modern medicine. Medicinal uses and toxicity Yew trees contain the highly poisonous taxane alkaloids that have been developed as anti-cancer drugs. Eating just a few leaves can make a small child severely ill and fatalities have occurred. All parts of the tree are poisonous, with the exception of the bright red arils. The black seeds inside them should not be eaten as they contain poisonous alkaloids. Threats Taxus cuspidata (Japanese Yew) Home » Taxus cuspidata (Japanese Yew) Taxus cuspidata Taxus baccata L. ssp. cuspidata (Siebold & Zucc.) Pilg. Taxus baccata L. var. microcarpa Trautv. Taxus cuspidata Siebold & Zucc. var. latifolia (Pilg.) Nakai Taxus cuspidata Siebold & Zucc. var. microcarpa (Trautv.) S.Y.Hu Taxonomic Source(s): Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Taxonomic Notes: Two varieties are recognized: the nominate variety (var. cuspidata) occurs throughout the range of the species and var. nana which is only known from Japan and the Russian Far East. The occurrence of this latter variety is poorly documented; both its taxonomic status and its occurrence are in need of further investigation. Thomas, P. & Farjon, A. Justification: Exploitation of this species has only affected subpopulations in certain parts of its extensive range, hence it is assumed that population reduction has been limited and has not had sufficient impact to warrant any assessment other than Least Concern. Previously published Red List assessments: 1998 – Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc) Geographic Range [top] Range Description: Recorded from the Russian Far East: Kuril Is., Sakhalin, Primorye; China: Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi; North Korea; South Korea; and Japan. The extent of occurrence is in excess of 20,000 km2. The area of occupancy has not been estimated.

Countries occurrence: Native: China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi); Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku); Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Russian Federation (Kuril Is., Primoryi, Sakhalin) Additional data: Population [top] Population: The overall population trend is likely to be stable although there may have been some decline in areas where clear-felling of forests has occurred.. Current Population Trend: Habitat and Ecology [top] Habitat and Ecology: Taxus cuspidata occurs sparsely in mixed conifer and conifer-deciduous broad-leaved forests in lowland to lower montane altitudes from 100 m to 1,600 m a.s.l. In NE China it occurs in conifer forest with Abies nephrolepis, Picea jezoensis, Pinus koraiensis, and Larix gmelinii var. olgensis, in Sakhalin Island and northern Japan with Abies sachalinensis, Picea glehnii, P.

jezoensis, Larix kaempferi, and various angiosperm trees e.g. Acer spp., Betula spp., Populus maximowiczii, Juglans mandshurica, Sorbus aucuparia, Ulmus spp., and Kalopanax ricinifolium. Further south in Japan it is common in the understorey of woods with Acer spp., Ulmus davidiana var. japonica, Tilia japonica, Juglans ailanthifolia, Quercus mongolica var. grossesserata, and many other species of trees. It grows on a variety of soils derived from granitic, schistose or serpentine base rocks. The variety nana is mostly found growing on rocky sea coasts but may also occur on exposed rock outcrops in the interior. Systems: Use and Trade [top] Use and Trade: The wood of this yew is used in China for construction, cooperage, for the making of furniture and for wood carving and turning. In Japan it is prized for interior finish, household furniture, utensils, marquetry, wood turning and sculpture; on a more industrial scale it is used to make pencils.

The Ainu people of Hokkaido and Sakhalin made their bows, as well as the scabbards of hunting knives, from its wood. The heartwood yields a brown or red dye. Extracts of many parts of the plant (roots, wood, bark and leaves) are used in traditional Chinese medicine (treating diabetes) while in modern times the pharmaceutical industry became much interested in the anti-cancer properties of its alkaloids (taxanes, drug name: Taxol®), which appear to be present in all species in low but varying concentrations. The seeds contain oils which are also extracted, but treatment is required to neutralize the poisonous alkaloids. In horticulture it has been so popular for a long time that the species is now rare in the wild, but it is grown nearly everywhere in the urbanized areas of Japan. Numerous cultivars exist, and the species is used in bonsai culture. Japanese yew was introduced to Europe (England) in 1855 by Robert Fortune and more cultivars have been developed here as well as in the USA. A hybrid between T. baccata and T.

cuspidata (Taxus ×media Rehd.) originated in the USA around 1900 and has given rise to further cultivars. Threats [top] Major Threat(s): This species has been listed on CITES Appendix II in connection with the exploitation of its foliage for the extraction of chemicals active as an anti-cancer drug. This exploitation was localized and has not resulted in significant decline throughout the wide range of this species. Conservation Actions [top] Conservation Actions: This species has been listed on CITES Appendix II and is also recorded from various protected areas in most parts of its range. Citation: Katsuki, T. & Luscombe, D. 2013. Taxus cuspidata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T42549A2987373. . Downloaded on 19 January 2017. Disclaimer:

Question: What is the common name of Taxus Baccata?
Answer: Yew